Barring a shocking trade, Cooper Flagg will begin his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks but cannot hide his fandom for Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. Amid the point guard's superb run in the playoffs, Flagg gave Haliburton his flowers during the 2025 NBA Draft Combine.

Flagg was one of the handful of incoming rookies who were asked for their opinion on the league's most underrated player by Bleacher Report. After giving it a brief thought, he singled out Haliburton due to the way fans perceive him.

“I would say Tyrese Haliburton,” Flagg said. “People hate him and call him overrated all the time and say he's not that good, but he's such a good basketball player.”

Haliburton also received the nod from Florida's Walter Clayton Jr., who is fresh off a Final Four MVP showing. Cade Cunningham was also a popular name, receiving the “most underrated” label from BYU's Egor Denim and Rutgers' Ace Bailey.

Flagg's presence at the Combine is a mere formality as almost nothing will stop him from going No. 1 to the Mavericks. The former five-star prospect was the consensus top pick across the board once the 2024 NBA Draft came to a close and only strengthened that belief with each performance at Duke.

Tyrese Haliburton leading Pacers on another surprise playoff run

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Through nine playoff games, Haliburton already has five double-doubles in the 2025 postseason. As arguably the best pure point guard in the NBA, Haliburton leads the league with 85 total assists in the playoffs.

After easily handling the Milwaukee Bucks for the second straight year, Haliburton has the Pacers one game away from knocking off the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. Indiana would return to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season with another win.

Haliburton, who missed most of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals due to a hamstring injury, is the biggest component of the Pacers' redemption arc. The Boston Celtics swept Indiana in 2024 without him and went on to win the NBA Finals.

Should the Pacers take care of business, they could potentially rematch the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, at the current rate, they are on track to face the New York Knicks, who own a 3-1 lead over the defending champions ahead of Game 5.